


Beautiful Dreamer

by seraphic_gate



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 01:16:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20399287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphic_gate/pseuds/seraphic_gate
Summary: Tsumugi has just been appointed the manager of her father’s store, Takanashi Adventure Emporium.  She loves her work and every day is a new adventure—but there’s something missing.  Her yearning heart makes her dream of a tall, beautiful man—that’s all it is, right?  The dream prince can’t be real! (spoilers: he’s real)





	1. Chapter 1

Dainty purple corn-cockle swayed in a breeze. All around her there was grass and blue sky. The smell of this place was familiar, some undefinable mixture of the soil, plants, and fresh air. 

Tsumugi had a soft, warm, thing in her hand. A piece of bread? A round fluffy one, like what her mother used to make. A sense of childlike glee came over her, even as some part of her deep inside knew that this couldn’t be real. She opened her mouth to take a bite.

“Um, excuse me? Hey, you!”

She looked up, just an inch from shoving the bread into her mouth. The voice belonged to a tall man she found standing beside her, although she hadn’t noticed him before.

His form was clear to her, free of the haze that obscured everything else. Somehow, that made him no less dreamlike. He had a tall, elegant, figure, dressed all in silver and white. His deep voice and blunt tone almost didn’t match.

“All right, you can hear me!” He looked relieved, almost surprised. “Sorry to scare you, but could you tell me where I am right now?”

Tsumugi stared back at him blankly. Where was she? What was this?

This was a dream. Right.

Upon that realization, the scenery began to dissolve, like water thrown over a painting that wasn’t quite dry.

The last thing she was aware of was that strange man groaning “not again!” 

***

She woke in her bed, disoriented by the feeling that she had dreamt of something important, but couldn’t remember what.

Realization dashed away the last remnant of that dream clawing at her mind. She had to get ready, because today was her first day as manager of the shop!

She opened the window and looked out into the city square. The big clock in the tower read just after six. “I’m right on time,” she said to herself, and went to get dressed and eat.

***

The outfit she wore to work was a white and red short dress, with black leggings and leather boots. She always kept a notebook and pencils to write with in a holster on her belt, and a backpack with her personal stuff in it.

It was a bright spring day. The cool breeze tickling her ears as she walked down the road to the shop brought back a vague remembrance of the dream she had that night. 

“Mom’s bread,” she thought aloud. She hadn’t remembered that in a long time.

***

The sign above the shop read: Takanashi Adventure Emporium. When she arrived, there were already two workers there waiting to be let in.

To see Iori there early wasn’t a shock, but Riku was there as well. He smiled when he caught sight of her. “Hey, manager!”

“Good morning!” She reached the door of the shop and began to unlock it. This took a moment, because she had to both insert a key and slide a dial to its secret combination. Her family’s shop sold dangerous and valuable items, some of which contained magical power, so each entrance was locked with dual mechanisms. 

After doing that, she waved her arm invitingly to show the two boys inside. “You two are here early! We don’t open for another two hours.”

“Stock and inventory should be done before open hours,” Iori said, stepping past them.

Riku grinned. “I wanted to be here for the door opening on your first day!”

Tsumugi laughed. “It isn’t a ceremony. Aside from my first day as manager, I don’t think there’s much interesting going on.”

“Is your dad feeling any better?”

“He’s fine. He’s not happy about the idea of an early retirement, but he’s resting.”

Riku sighed. “I’m glad. When he fell over, it was really scary.”

“The doctor has given him a clean bill of health, really.”

Iori doubled back from deeper within the shop and grabbed Riku by his sleeve. “Stop bothering her,” he said in a low tone, but Tsumugi heard it clearly.

“He’s really not—“

“The two of us have work to get done before the store opens anyway,” Iori said, gruff. “Mr. Yamato’s shipment arrived late last night after the others had closed the shop and gone home, so no one has even begun to unpack it.”

“Oh, I’ll help you out,” Tsumugi said. “Sogo always leaves the store organized and sparkling before he goes home, so there’s never much to clean up in the morning.”

***

It was an average day at the store. They had a steady influx of customers, but not a rush. Enough to keep things profitable without being overwhelming. The perfect first day.

Riku was their best at sales. He had a cute smile and his optimism was infectious. He made customers feel good about their purchases in a way that wasn’t manipulative or pushy, so they kept coming back.

Iori was best at making sure the shelves stayed well-stocked and tidy, but he was good with the customers, too. He could always give them accurate and detailed information about each product.

Tsumugi was glad that she could rely on them, since she spent a lot of time in the office at the back of the store, doing the store’s paperwork, managing deals with vendors, and preparing for 

In the afternoon the shifts changed, Iori and Riku went home. Sogo and Tamaki came in.

“Did you have an eventful first day, Manager?” Sogo’s voice was soft and friendly.

“I had a pile of paperwork dropped off just after we opened, but I managed to finish it.”

Tamaki groaned. “Sorry, boss. That’s the worst.”

“It wasn’t so bad!”

“Why don’t you go home early?” Sogo said. “You don’t need to stay. Tamaki and I are quite used to closing the shop on our own.”

“I’ll go home soon,” Tsumugi said. “But I’ve been in the back all day, and I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to our customers at all.”

“In that case, would you like to run the front desk while Tamaki and I clean up?”

Tamaki groaned again. “I’ll help boss with the register!”

That got her to laugh again. Tamaki was very dedicated to the work, but cleaning was his least favorite task. “Honestly, we weren’t overworked today, so there isn’t much to clean. Tamaki, why don’t you set up outside and demonstrate the new magic lanterns? I’m sure that will attract people’s attention.”

“Could I? It sounds like fun!”

“Just be careful, they’re pretty rare.”

“You got it, boss.”

***

She excused herself just as the sun had set and walked home in the dim light of dusk. A young boy was lighting the street lanterns.

She wondered if she could broker a deal with the city for a few magical lamps, like the ones Tamaki had been demonstrating today. They were expensive up front due to their rarity, but they’d each last for one hundred years without any need for fuel, so it would be really cost efficient in the long run.

She yawned as she reached her house, but the day wasn’t quite over yet. She had to cook dinner for her father and make sure that he was getting enough bedrest as he promised.

She found him in his bed with a stack of books beside him. 

“You’ll strain your eyes by that little candle’s light,” she said. 

He turned his head up and took his glasses off to look at her. He must have been so engrossed he hadn’t noticed her come home. “A side effect of resting all day is that I don’t sleep as easily as I did after a day of hard work,” he said. “But I’m enjoying the opportunity to read some fiction for once.”

“Maybe I should get you a magic lantern,” she said. “We just got twelve of them from Yamato’s last expedition.”

“No, no, keep every penny of those things for the shop. I’m just an old man, I don’t need such a luxury.”

Tsumugi huffed. “You’re not even fifty yet!”

“Still, it’s quite all right. Don’t worry about my eyes.”

She sighed and decided to let that go. “What would you like for dinner?”

“You must be tired from your first day as manager. Why don’t I make you something?”

“The doctor said—“

“Yes, I know. But I’ve been in bed all day. I think I can handle a walk to the kitchen.”

“In that case, I want to eat Kinako pancakes.”

“For dinner?” He laughed. “All right. You’re never too old to have pancakes for dinner.”

Over their breakfast dinner, Tsumugi told her father all about her first day as the manager of their shop. 

“It wasn’t very interesting,” she said.

“Interesting can be good or bad,” he told her, and from him, it sounded like sage advice. 

That night, she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

***

She stood at the edge of a lake at dusk. The water was still as a mirror. A cloud of lightning bugs floated around her and over the lake, their glow reflecting in its surface like glitter.

She wasn’t alone.

“Here I am again,” said the man with a sigh. “Hope I’m not being rude.”

She squinted her eyes at him, trying to remember where she knew him from. He wore white, and he had fluffy silver hair with wisps that seems to float around his head. Even his eyes were silver in the moonlight. 

“Who are you?”

“Would you believe me if I said I’m a prince?”

“I’d believe you are a prince,” she stammered, tripping over her words as she spoke. “I-it’s more that you can’t be real!”

He laughed, and when he did, little crinkles appeared around the corners of his eyes. It was the kind of vivid detail Tsumugi wasn’t used to in a dream. “I’m pretty real. Or, at least I think I am.”

“I must be dreaming.” Tsumugi lifted her hands to her face to clap them against her cheeks.

“Wait, Wait,” he said, waving her arms frantically to stop her. “Is that what this is? Is this your dream?”

Even though she hadn’t smacked herself awake, the environment began to melt around them. 

“Guess it can’t be helped,” he said. His voice faded until she was asleep in the void between dreaming and waking.

***

She woke and stood up half-awake, and stumbled down the hall to the family’s bathroom. 

Thanks to their trade, her family’s home was filled with modern conveniences, like running water. She was able to buy elixirs for the hair, face, body, and even the teeth from the store, too. 

Someday every household would have these kind of things. Her shop would be one of the very few at the forefront of modern convenience for the average family, not just the rich. That was her dream.

As she brushed her teeth before the memories of her more literal dream from last night crept up on her.

There was a lake of lights. Maybe because of all the talk of lanterns yesterday? 

But something else was nagging her. What was it?

A man. There was a man in her dreams. A really handsome man who was tall, and all in silver and white.

She spit her elixir out into her sink and rinsed her mouth. She hadn’t ever dreamt about a man before, how embarrassing!

It wasn’t even a man that she knew, but she had to wonder if she had seen him before. He had such specific features, like those little creases under his eyes when he laughed. Could she have made all that up on her own?

She clapped her face to try to make herself stop blushing. She had to get to work!

***

The shop was slow that day. Tsumugi found herself standing at the front counter, lost in thought.

“Hey, Manager.” It was Yamato’s voice. He was a little older than the other boys, and a little taller, too. “You in there?”

Sogo laughed. Tsumugi looked up, startled. She hadn’t noticed him come in early to shop for a few things for himself. 

“Sorry, I was daydreaming!”

“Who about, I wonder?” 

Yamato liked to tease her, but since she was the store’s manager now, she had to hold her own. “Not you.”

He laughed boisterously. “Nice one, I guess I deserve a burn like that.”

“Manager,” Sogo said. “Didn’t you try this one?” He held up a glass bottle of shimmery purple fluid. “Your hair looks so bouncy today.”

“Thank you, you’re so kind to notice. Yes, that one’s very good! I’ll give you the first one for free to try. If you like it, please suggest it to our customers. Not only is it a good product, but we get a big margin profit on it, too.”

“Spoken like a true shopkeeper,”  
he chuckled. “I’ll give you my honest opinion tomorrow.”

Yamato was still hovering there. Since it was slow and Tsumugi hadn’t arranged an expedition for him yet, he didn’t have much to do. “So who were you dreaming of, if not me?”

“Leave her alone,” Sogo sighed, and tugged at his sleeve. “She’s the boss now, you know? Show some respect!”

“It’s an innocent tease, and now I’m just too curious. You may be out boss, but we can’t have you falling in love with just any old scum bag. He needs to be vetted first.”

“You’re as bad as my father,” Tsumugi laughed. “But don’t worry, it isn’t anyone in specific.”

“A lonesome yearning for a love yet unmet,” Yamato said in a dramatic tone, as if reciting poetry. “I can relate.”

After that, Sogo dragged Yamato off to log into work, and to try and find him something productive to do.

Tsumugi didn’t know how to explain that her imaginary someone had a very specific appearance. 

She sighed, staring out the window. A moonlit lake would be such a nice place to get away. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a crash from the back, and shouts of “Riku, you klutz!” And Riku’s return of “oh my gosh I’m so so sorry!”

She rubbed her temples and got back to work.


	2. May I Have This Dance

#   
The buffet stretched for miles and was piled high with nothing but the most amazingly delicious foods.

After eating her fill of succulent duck, fresh baked bread, and the richest cheeses she could imagine, she moved on to dessert. Beautifully decorated cakes and delicate pastries as far as she could see, all just for her.

The best part was that she never got full, and every bite was like the first bite.

She heard soft laughter from behind her and turned to find him walking up to her. “Excuse me,” he said, bowing. “You’re gonna have to forgive me for being so forward, but I sure would enjoy your company for tea, if you’d have mine.”

Tsumugi swallowed the food she had been shoving into her face and dabbed her mouth with her napkin. “I, um—well!” It was hard to think of what to say with him looking at her. Maybe if she didn’t look directly into those piercing eyes of his, it wouldn’t be so bad. “Okay, I mean—I don’t have a problem with that.”

“Great.”

He sat down beside her and began to pour them each a cup of tea. She let her eyes dart in that direction and catch a quick glimpse of him in profile. 

“Do you take sugar?”

“A little bit, yes please.”

He had a handsome face with sharp features. He might have been kind of scary, if not for his friendly demeanor. His eyes were framed by long eyelashes. 

He caught her looking. She took her cup from him and averted her eyes once again.

He laughed. “Why did you stop eating?”

“It’s because—“ She seemed to talk more freely than she normally would, in whatever world this was where cakes went on forever. “I can’t stuff my face with a prince sitting next to me!”

“So you do remember me?”

She looked back at him. Something foggy egged at her brain. “Have we met?”

“Don’t worry about that. Just eat. You were so happy a moment ago.”

She blushed. “You saw me shoving cakes into my face like that?”

“Yeah, it was really cute.”

“I— I—“ her grasp of language failed in response to that.

He took one sip of tea—no sugar in his, she noticed—and looked around at his surroundings. Vague, fuzzy walls and vases of flowers like the ones at the fancy cafe she went to once. They seemed farther away the more she tried to make them out. 

“It looks like it’s almost time for me to go once again.”

“Do you have to?”

That made him smile. “I’d love to stay, but it isn’t up to me.”

Something about that was sad. She didn’t know why.

“You already humored my request for tea, but can I ask you one more favor?”

“What do you mean?”

“I want you to remember my name. Gaku. Can you give it a try?”

“Gaku...”

“It sounds nice when you say it.”

***

She woke with a start, the dream still fresh in her mind. 

This time, he wouldn’t get away. She fumbled out of bed for her notebook and scrawled down what she could remember.

“Gaku,” she said, writing the name, hoping she had heard it right. “Now why does that sound familiar?”

She wrote down some specifics about his appearance, including his clothing and the color of his hair and eyes. She found herself writing the words “facial features: noble? elegant?” 

It was already getting fuzzy. She groaned and dug her hands into her hair. How stupid was all of this? Keeping a dream journal like a little girl.

There was no more time to think on it until after work.

***

“Hello there, were you able to find everything that you needed for your journey?”

Tsumugi found herself reciting that phrase a lot. So much that it echoed in her head some days.

She looked around herself. The store was so busy! The customers lined up all the way to the back. She frantically processed their orders and made change for their money. 

It was exhilarating to get so much business, but she was only one woman. The crowd became more impatient with each passing moment.

“Thank you for waiting, I’m sorry about the long line!”

“Don’t you have any other workers?” The man who came to the counter next griped. “I’ve been waiting almost an hour!”

“I’m so sorry.” She bowed and moved as fast as she could. “Thank you so much for your patience!” 

Where were Iori and Riku? Sogo or Tamaki? Even Yamato could make himself useful at this point.

All on her own, how could she take care of these hundreds of customers?

She heard a familiar voice at her side, although it didn’t belong to any of her coworkers. 

“Never done this before,” the silver-haired man said, winking at her. He took an apron from the hook beside the counter and tied it into himself over his princely white suit. “But there’s no better time to learn. Show me the ropes, boss.”

“You?” She couldn’t think with so many customers griping at her. Her hands moved so fast she almost couldn’t see them anymore, and it still wasn’t fast enough. What was his name? “G... Gaku!”

“You remembered! Ha, that’s great.” The smile he gave the next customer calmed her down instantly. “Hello ma’am, are you sure you need this makeup kit? You’re a looker already.”

The woman laughed and fanned herself. “Oh my, are you a new clerk?”

She supposed having such a handsome face was as asset in this sort of situation. “H-how did you get here?” 

Her customers weren’t as nice. “Please pay attention!” A man scolded her, and threw his package of dried foods on the counter. “I’ve been waiting—“

“So sorry sir!” She quickly rung up his items, trying to look over at Gaku at the same time. He was moving smoothly, making small talk with the customers. “I mean, where do I know you from? How do I know your name?”

“Have a wonderful day, my lady,” he said to the next shopper. She swooned and left the store. He gave Tsumugi a nonchalant shrug. “Hey don’t worry about that, let’s just take care of your clientele.”

That was what was most important. Happy customers who would come back again and again. “Okay,” she said, brimming with confidence. “Lets do it.” 

He laughed. “I bet I can help more customers than you.”

“You’re on, let’s do it!”

The oppressive sense of helplessness was swept away by a crashing wave of motivation brought on by this man’s presence.

They were neck in neck, and after a while, Tsumugi had lost count of who was winning. She was just happy to see so many smiling faces leave her shop with bags full of goods.

Soon, the line was thin, and finally the last customer was helped.

Gaku sighed as he wiped sweat from his brow. “Well, I tried my best, but I think you beat me.”

“You’re new at this,” she said. “All in a day’s work!”

“So is this what you do in real life? You’re pretty amazing.”

She blinked back at him, trying to understand that question. “Real life?”

“Ah, I see. You remembered my name, but not much else. I suppose that’s enough for now.” His expression weakened. He was still smiling, but he seemed sad now.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Whenever you figure out it’s a dream, that’s when you wake up.”

She opened her mouth to ask him something more, but the shop around them was already falling away.

***

She darted up straight in her desk, knocking her pen well over and spilling the ink onto the floor. “Oh no!”

The door to her office opened. Yamato saw her plight and rushed in to help her. “Manager, are you okay?”

“Yamato—you’re here. Are all of the customers gone? Where was everyone?”

“What?” He handed her a cloth from his pocket. “Careful, don’t get ink on your dress.”

Tsumugi calmed herself with a deep breath and regained her bearings. “Ah, I must have fallen asleep and had a dream about the shop.”

“You’re working too hard,” he laughed, and offered her a hand to help her off the floor. 

“Mr. Yamato, have you ever met someone by the name of Gaku?”

He looked at her skeptically. “I only know of one guy with that name, not that I ever met him.”

“Who is he?”

“The prince of Ashland,” he said. 

“Oh...”

“Why do you ask?”

It made sense. Ashland was a kingdom she had never visited, but it was possible that she had heard such a famous person’s name before. Her subconscious must have come up with Prince Gaku based on that bit of information.

“Oh, it’s no reason!” She rubbed the back of her head and tried to pass it off with a laugh. “Did you need something?”

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m shipping out for my next trip tomorrow morning,” he said. “I should be back in a few weeks. Ashland is on my itinerary, now that I think about it. Is that why you’re curious about the prince?”

“I’m not curious about him, really, I just heard that name in the crowd and I was wondering if it was one of our customers.”

Yamato didn’t seem to buy that excuse, but let it go. He was going to be busy preparing for his trip, after all. “Well, Manager, hold down the fort. I’ll be back in a few weeks.”

“Good luck, and safe travels!”

Yamato nodded and left the office.

She sighed as she sank back into her chair. Her father had gotten it for himself, and she wondered if it was too big for her. It was comfortable, though. No wonder she had fallen asleep.

Somehow the logical explanation for her dream prince left her disappointed. 

***

It was a fantastic ball room, like the ones she’d only seen in fairy tale books. The ladies were all in colorful dresses with enormous layered skirts that swayed around them as they danced. The men were wearing suits with tailcoats. The couples twirled around her, waltzing in beautiful symmetry.

He was there, she wasn’t surprised. For once, he looked like he belonged in his surroundings. 

He smiled, and those creases appeared around his eyes. They made his angular face look gentle. 

He held out his hand. “May I have this dance?”

She didn’t reach for him. “I don’t know how to dance.”

“Then this time, it’s my turn to teach you.”

She took his hand, and he pulled her closer. “I suppose if you’re not real, it won’t matter if I step on your feet.”

“Ha, I’m not real? Well, if that keeps you in this dream a little longer, I’ll take it.” He lifted her other hand and placed it on his shoulder, then rest his own hand on her hip. “But you aren’t dressed for this, my lady.”

“Oh.” She looked down at herself and realized that she was wearing the same thing as always.

“It’s a cute dress, but don’t you want to wear something like these other ladies, since you imagined them in such detail?”

“I’m not special like those ladies.”

He looked at her like she’d just said one plus one equals sixteen. “Are you kidding? I told you, you’re amazing.”

“You’re just saying that because you are my dream prince.”

He shook his head. “That’s nonsense. Let’s see. I think you’d look beautiful in red. How about it?”

She imagined it, how it would feel to wear a glamorous gown in ruby red, skirts sparkling and floating around her. 

“Ah, I was right. It’s beautiful.”

She looked down to find herself wearing the dress she’d thought of, and felt her face flush hot. 

“Now, just follow my lead. Let’s start with something simple. Back and forth, two steps. See?”

She looked down at their feet to see what he was doing. One step forward and one step back along with the music.

“Not so hard, right?”

“I think I’ve got it.”

“Good. Now let’s try three steps.”

He tugged her a little closer. If this was a real place, she’d be embarrassed to be seen with a man this way. But this was her mind, and he was just a figment of her imagination. 

“You know my name, but I’m afraid I haven’t caught yours.”

She chuckled at that. “Tsumugi. I guess I thought since you’re part of my imagination, you would know it already.”

“Tsumugi. Is there any way I could convince you I’m real?”

“I don’t think so. There’s no way a real prince would look twice at me.”

“You’re a weird one. You seemed so confident in the shop before. Why do you say things like that?”

“I’m just a workaholic shopkeeper! I wouldn’t have time for someone in my life, prince or otherwise.”

“Well let me tell you, I’m real, and I’m looking at you right now.”

***

She woke at the light of the sun creeping across her bed. 

Sitting up with a yawn, she reached for her notebook and jotted down what she could remember. Prince Gaku. Ballroom. Red dress. Dancing.

Dancing. She wondered. 

She got out of bed and held her hands out as if they were still on her shoulders. Her feet remembered the steps. 

How could a figment of her imagination teach her to do something she didn’t already know how to do?

Crazy. It was a crazy thought.

_I’m real_.

She grabbed her bag and shoes and ran out of the house in her pajamas. 

What was she doing? The sun had hardly risen and she was sprinting down the road.

“Yamato!” She called out. She spotted the cart just as it was about to turn onto the main road. “Mr. Yamato, wait!”

“Whoa there.” He brought the horses to a halt and looked down at her from the seat of the cart. “Tsumugi, what is it? Did something happen to your old man?”

“No, it’s not that—“. she was panting and had to stop to catch her breath, doubled over. “That prince you told me about. Have you ever seen him?”

He balked at the question. She didn’t blame him, it was strange for her, too. “Not in person, no.”

“Do you have any idea what he looks like?”

“Why is this so important to you?”

She sighed. “I’m not sure.”

“Tsumugi. Go home and get some rest.”

“You’re right. I will. But...”. She couldn’t help that it bugged her. “Do you know anything about him?”

“Prince Gaku of the Yaotome line,” Yamato sighed. “Never seen him myself, but his family’s looks precede them. They all have silver hair and eyes, runs in their blood.”

“Silver...”

“Now. Are you satisfied?”

“Yes, thank you!”

He laughed a tired laugh. “When I get back, I want you tell me what all this is about.”

“I’ll see if I can figure it out by then.” Or at least, she could come up with an excuse that didn’t sound insane.

“Shop’s closed today, you know. Go home and sleep.”

With that, he clicked his tongue and spurred the horses. They clopped off, pulling the cart behind them. He turned into the main road and rode out of sightS. In a few weeks, he’d return with that cart piled to the top with wares.

She suddenly realized her current state of dress, and hurried home to change. But once she got there, the temptation of her bed was too much to resist.

Maybe if she got some rest, some of this would start to make sense.

This time, no dreams of her prince filled her head. Only restful sleep.


End file.
